Charlotte Lesher, the mother of the late Joey Ramone has passed away. According to her son’s official website, Charlotte, who was 80 years old, sufferred a heart attack on the 27th of January.

She had worked tirelessly in her son’s memory, creating both the annual Joey Ramone Birthday Bash and it’s beneficiary, the Joey Ramone Foundation for Lymphoma Research. She is survived by other son and Joey’s brother, Mickey Leigh.

In lieu of cards or flowers, her family and friends ask that you consider making making a donation to the Joey Ramone Foundation for Lymphoma Research. ()

Our deepest condolences to her friends and family.
Read more at: Continue reading Charlotte Lesher, Mother of Joey Ramone (1927-2007) →

Propagandhi‘s Chris Hannah has posted an update stating that writing has formally commenced on the band’s followup to 2005’s Potemkin City Limits. A recording of some sorts will also take place shortly;

So last night I went over at Kowalski’s own private sewage treatment plant to hear the new tunes he’s been working on, and felt I should forewarn anybody within a 1000 mile radius that owns a barn to make sure they completely soak it with firehoses and keep it that way for the next little while or else you might wake up one morning and it will be nothing more than a smoldering pile of cinders.

Not to be outdone, The Beaver has also blinded me with his own brand of science in recent weeks, including rollicking numbers tentatively titled Van Halen’s Pants and Hot Snack!

On top of it all, our resident freak Jordy-Boy returns from his pilgrimage to Habana next Tuesday and we get down to the business of turning these fanciful dreams into full-blow aural NIGHTMARES. Watch your back!

I promise a SEVERE bludgeoning on our next record and at least one new song appearing in our set on these forthcoming prairie dates with GFK. Mangez nous!

This is quite noteworthy as the band last took five years to properly follow up a full-length — Potemkin‘s predecessor Today’s Empires, Tomorrow Ashes was released in November 2000 — while now it seems the turnaround may be a steady two years.

The flurry of activity continues with those aforementioned tour dates for the western portion of their homeland Canada coming in March.
Read more at: http://www.punknews.org/article/21944. Continue reading Propagandhi working on new record →

Bury Your Dead has opted to hold open auditions to find a new vocalist to fill the position vacated by frontman Mat Bruso last month. Bruso’s departure forced the band to drop off their UK tour with Killswitch Engage and The Haunted.
The band is encouraging interested parties to send video and audio samples to this email address.

They released Beauty and the Breakdown last year.
Read more at: http://www.punknews.org/article/21943. Continue reading Bury Your Dead holding open auditions for vocalist →

Jump Start Records have annouced that they’ve added another member to their small knit family in the form of Austria’s Astpai.

A track from the band’s forthcoming release Corruption Concealed is currently available at their MySpace. The album will be released this fall through Jump Start.
Read more at: http://www.punknews.org/article/21942. Continue reading Jump Start Records signs Astpai →

Pluto Records act Bloodjinn have posted two new tracks online. The tracks will be featured on the band’s forthcoming full-length This Machine Runs On Empty which comes out March 6th.

You can check out the songs here.
Read more at: http://www.punknews.org/article/21941. Continue reading Bloodjinn post two new songs →

Abacus Recordings act DeSole have added drummer Christopher Pela to their line-up. The band is currently working on new material for the follow-up to their current Abacus release A Story to Tell.

You can check out some music from the band on MySpace.
Read more at: http://www.punknews.org/article/21940. Continue reading Desole add drummer Chris Pela to their line-up →

Owen, the alter-ego of former Cap’n Jazz member Mike Kinsella, has announced his upcoming tour plans in support of his new 2006 full length and follow up to I Do Perceive.

The album is titled At Home With Owen, and Mike will be supporting the album on seperate tours with Make Believe (Japan) and Rocky Votolato, Drag The River (USA)

Read more at: http://www.punknews.org/article/21939. Continue reading Tours: Owen with Rocky Votolato / Drag the River, Make Believe →

Washington DC’s Olympia have posted a new song entitled “M-80” online. The song comes from their forthcoming release Emergencies, which will be released in April.

The band have also posted a slew of tour dates with Dance Gavin Dance in support of Emergencies.
Read more at: http://www.punknews.org/article/21938. Continue reading Tours: Olympia posts new song, dates with Dance Gavin Dance →

San Francisco’s Lugosi have posted a new song. You can check out “Bullets and Poison” on their MySpace page.

The Pax Cecilia, from DuBois, PA, have posted 2 new tracks off their upcoming album. As with their previous one, the cd will be completely free and you can get one by emailing the band. You can hear the tracks at their MySpace page.

Us Against The Archers, featuring former members of The Skeptics, have posted a new song called “Glass House Party.” They are currently working on an EP and have already filmed a video for “Glass House Party” so be on the lookout for that coming soon. Check it all out at their MySpace page.

Southeastern-Ohio based Project Active Media act Some Kind Of Sleeping Giant will be releasing a 5 song EP titled Hands on Feb 2nd, 2007. The EP will contain 5 songs from their upcoming full length How You Can Tell You Are Really Alive. Four songs are available for download at PAM’s brand new website, as well as streaming on the band’s MySpace page.
Read more at: http://www.punknews.org/article/21937. Continue reading Lugosi, the Pax Cecilia, Us Against The Archers, Some Kind Of Sleeping Giant →

Justin: Back in the 90’s, Moon Ska put out a series of fantastic compilations called Skarmageddon. There were four installments of this, I believe, covering the best up and coming small bands of that genre, including bands like Spring Heeled Jack USA, Less Than Jake, the Rudiments and more. While the heyday of porkpie hats and checkerboard tattoos may be gone, many of those songs still stick with me to this day.

One of which is by a band called Tight. Featured on the second disk of the third installment their song “Failed Trust” is a stripped down song, featuring distortion less guitar, minimal bass and light use of some saxophone. The lyrics really spoke to a 16 year old version of myself, (overly) concerned with my friends’ alcohol intake and growing intolerance towards those who were different. It’s nearly 10 years later and that song still gets significant airtime in my apartment. I was never able to find anything else released by these guys, maybe someone else out there has?

Tight – “Failed Trust”

Brian: If Rites of Spring and SB hypemen Modern Life Is War did the dirty unprotected and had Wes Eisold and Ian Svenonius give the baby his early speech lessons, it might grow up to be a lot like Spanish Bombs. Like your hardcore dark, emotional, and ambitiously structured? Check out the song below, taken from their self-titled EP released last October on Chunksaah.

Spanish Bombs – Gamblers
Read more at: http://www.punknews.org/article/21936. Continue reading MP3 of the Week: Tight / Spanish Bombs →

Nothington, which features Gabe Lindeman and J Northington, both former members of defunct act Tsunami Bomb, have announced dates in support of their debut for BYO Records.

BYO describes the band as sounding like if “Tom Waits, Mike Ness, HWM, and Leatherface somehow mothered a child together.” The band will be releasing All In on February 20th, 2007.

The band was recently featured as an Mp3 of the Week here at Punknews.
Read more at: http://www.punknews.org/article/21935. Continue reading Tours: Nothington →

According to the latest blog on their myspace page, The Aquabats have commenced working on their follow-up to Charge!! with a release planned for this summer. They wrote:

Now that we are on the subject of GOING FOR IT!! THE AQUABATS are going for it! They are hard at work on a new album and should have it, hopefully, out by this summer. That means you all can look forward to putting the top down on your rad convertibles and blasting the new album from the Aquabats until you feel super awkward and decide to put the top back up again. AWESOME!! Just a few hints about the new title of the album, MAGIC….UNTOUCHABLE….INDIA…..COWBOYS.

In related news, MC Bat Commander’s new television program, Yo Gabba Gabba! has been picked up by television network Nick Jr. The show is a new original half-hour preschool series. The 20-episode live-action magazine-style series will use music and song to highlight simple life lessons and universal experiences in the lives of preschoolers.
Read more at: http://www.punknews.org/article/21934. Continue reading The Aquabats writing new album; Yo Gabba Gabba! picked up by Nick Jr. →

The Blackout Pact have announced a variety of the ex-band members’ plans since the Pact’s November demise:

We can’t thank you all enough for all the support you’ve given us since the band broke up. Just a quick bulletin to let you all know that Mike Herrera and Mike Delmonico have started a new band with some friends from here in Denver and Cleveland. Justin Hackl has teamed back up with Casey and Joe from his old band Cost Of Living along with friends from Denver and Portland. No names for either of these bands yet. But you’ll be the first to know when things get rolling.

The band recently posted a demo and collaboration with Thursday online.
Read more at: http://www.punknews.org/article/21933. Continue reading Blackout Pact discuss post-band plans →